This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

After The Snow, Comes The Trash

Garbage removal is slow following last week's blizzard

Nearly a week and a half after a blizzard put New York into lockdown mode, trash collection is only now beginning for Park Slope residents.

And as the days pile up so do the mounds of garbage lining the streets.

The sanitation department resumed "limited" garbage removal Monday at 7 a.m. They advised those who had Monday pickup to leave regular trash and Christmas trees out but not recycling.

Find out what's happening in Park Slopewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We collected 18,274 tons of refuse yesterday," sanitation representative Kathy Dawkins said.  "We will be continuing to pick up backlogged refuse collection citywide and anticipate to have all backlogged refuse picked up by the end of the week."

Dawkins added that residents should set out their refuse on their regularly scheduled day and not before.

Find out what's happening in Park Slopewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But as the second day of trash removal comes to a close, Park Slope residents still haven't seen a difference in those now ubiquitous trash mounds.

"It's pretty bad. The trash has not been picked up and it is piled almost up to your shoulder. And the recycling is pretty much about the same," Earl McIntire said.

McIntire, who lives in an apartment on Park Place, said he doesn't necessarily blame the city but that now that the snow has begun to melt "the city needs to get the lead out."

Park Place was due for cleanup today but as of late Tuesday afternoon no sanitation department workers had arrived to remove McIntire's trash.

The slow cleanup could also be attributed to a lack of machine power from the sanitation department.

According to the New York Times, the city has around 50 percent of collection trucks out on the street while the remaining trucks are currently being used for snow clearing.

Not all residents are as forgiving of the city's effort thus far.

"It's been slow but it all started with the no snow alert. That was the key to the whole mess," said Mike Orio, a Sixth Avenue resident. "[The city] wouldn't call an emergency and that was a major failure. And everything back from that moment, everything fell apart."

During last week's storm, Mayor Michael Bloomberg refused to call a snow emergency, which many like Orio feel led to a number of abandoned cars and buses on city streets. With stranded automobiles lining the streets, the cleanup of both snow and trash has been slowed dramatically.

Orio, like McIntire, was scheduled to have his trash picked up Tuesday but has still yet to see trucks on his street. Even some streets scheduled to recieve trash removal Monday, such as 15th Street, have yet to see a garbage truck.

But the trash situation is not as grim for everyone.

Businesses like Ozzie's Coffee on Seventh Avenue who have privately contracted refuse services saw pickup resume in the last few days. Ozzie's specifically had their trash taken away Monday night.

"We had trash downstairs, we had trash in the bin, we had trash outside so it was getting to be a problem," manager Raphael Bernadine said. "It was piled up and not in a good way."

A plan to resume recycling collection will be announced by the sanitation department in the coming days.

To find out what day your trash is supposed to be removed check with the sanitation department's collection schedule database. Requesting refuse removal from the sanitation department can also be found on their website. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?